We reported a few weeks ago that Sprint threw down the flag on the venerable HTC Arrive, giving the device end-of-life (EOL) status. Now tonight, we can sadly report that Sprint has all but wiped the device from its online site, making the Arrive officially a has-been. Store availability is expected to be very limited with only replacement devices available for order.

Launched in March 2011 the Arrive was Sprint’s only Windows Phone offered on the CDMA network and the only other Windows Phone with a horizontal physical keyboard (the other being the LG Quantum), carving itself a nice little niche for itself. Though slightly bulky with an underwhelming LCD screen (as was common with Gen 1 devices), the phone has a loyal following and some of the highest satisfaction ratings from customers...

Sprint is slowing phasing out the much loved HTC Arrive, according to Windows Phone Central forum member iknowsingh. Travelling down to the Sprint corporate store on 42nd street in New York, iknowsingh notes that the Arrive was nowhere to be seen. Confirmation came in that it was also not present at three local Sprint authorised retailers with no Arrives in stock.

A representative was able to explain that the HTC Arrive was listed as EOL after the last price change and software update. The device is still listed in the system and on the carrier website, where it can be picked up for just $49.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate.

The HTC Arrive, one of our trusty go to devices on Windows Phone especially for you physical-keyboard lovers, never got too popular despite its uniqueness. The phone is a bit thick and sort of lacks that ‘sex appeal’ that Nokia or Apple bring to the market yet it’s still a darn good device despite its age and lack of updates.

Looking over Sprint’s customer ratings though, the device comes out on top with 89% of customers recommending the phone (from 402 reviews). Here’s how the Arrive ranks compared to the competition...

Today's a big day as DFT have released their HSPL RSPL tool version 3 for Windows Phone. Previous versions allowed access to GSM editons of Generation 1 HTC devices which is why they're able to run those custom ROMs that we've reported on previously. This latest version of the HSPL RSPL tool released today now enables support for two CDMA phones: the Verizon Trophy and Sprint Arrive (7 Pro). From the changelog:

Added support for 'SCHU1000' and 'PD291200' MIDs

Removed OTA update inside RSPL and HSPL, this allows to keep HSPL after

This tool is the first needed to unlock the bootloader allowing the loading of custom ROMs onto the device. That means "ROM chefs" can now begin the cooking and testing of custom builds, eventually getting to the point where a stable version can be released to the public.

That's good news for those who don't want to wait for the latest build of the OS to get "officially" released (assuming it will even happen). In short, whether Verizon or Sprint officially release 8107 to fix the keyboard, you should be able to load a custom ROM with it in the near future.

Stay tuned for those custom ROMs over the next few weeks as we'll report any that come forth.

Sprint customers have taken to the streets, er, the internet, and created an online petition to show that they want some new Windows phones. The move comes after Sprint Vice President of Product Realization David Owens expressed his lack of enthusiasm for WP7. Owens said that the HTC Arrive, Sprint's only WP7 device, sold poorly because Microsoft has done a poor job of promoting their mobile OS. While this may have been true early on, Sprint certainly made no effort on their part either. In fact, they went so far as to make the Arrive the poster child for their trade-in program.

The petition is still young, and thusly, has few signatures. We're not sure if it will light a fire under the third-largest carrier in the U.S., but but stranger things have happened. Verizon recently canned a plan to hike up their fees because of a huge public outcry that began on the internet. Of course, that would have affected most, if not all, Verizon users, whereas this is only a fraction of Sprint's customer base. But that doesn't mean people shouldn't try. If you feel strongly about Sprit's reluctance to adopt more Windows phones, hit up the source link below and let it be known.

Sprint has lowered the on-contract price of the HTC Arrive, arguably one of the best Gen 1 phones (see review), from $199 to $99. While you can find it cheaper on Amazon Wireless, when carriers lower the price it's a sign usually of the device's "life" winding down. So is Sprint getting ready to get rid of the Arrive? We're doubtful--the device clearly has a few more months left in it and we're not betting on any Sprint Gen 2 device news till CES in January.

The only thing we can tell you that we've heard is Sprint is one of the carrier's not throwing money at Nokia for their first US Windows Phone (Yeah, it's AT&T and Verizon, fighting for it, shocker). Take that as you will. The Arrive is a great phone though and for those who need a keyboard, it's pretty killer even at $99. Still, lets hope that Sprint gets at least two devices come winter.

Now, perhaps due to a change of heart or perhaps a phone call from Microsoft, the Arrive has been replaced by the LG Lotus Elite. Hey, maybe they regularly rotate those phones and this is just coincidence, so we'll keep an eye on it, but at least for now the Arrive is spared the humiliation of being the iPhone 4S trade-in phone.

To make the Windows Phone situation even sadder on Sprint than it already is (seriously, they pretty much tie Verizon), Sprint is now using the HTC Arrive, arguably one of the better Windows Phones, as the example for their buyback program. In short, when you go to the iPhone 4S page on Sprint, scrolling down reveals the Sprint Buyback program and the HTC Arrive, a phone that is just six months old, is wrapped in age-inducing ivy.

It's as if Sprint is digging the knife in a little deeper. Sure, we could hope that this is because they're getting ready to reveal one or even two new Windows Phone for the holiday season, but honestly, it's been pretty quiet on the rumor front so far.

Sprint has released some information about an actual time stamp today when Mango will begin rolling out for the HTC Arrive on their community forum. 1pm CST (just about an hour away).

We only recently covered a representative conversation between the carrier and our Seth Brodeur confirming that today's the day and it will take a few days for the rollout to complete. To those on Sprint, if you've received notification and have updated please do let us know in the comments or via tip!

We've seen it in the wild and now Sprint's official support page just went up detailing the Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" update. The new software version is confirmed as being 2305.13.40301.651 and should be going live today.

"Last Updated: Sep 27, 2011 - Just like your computer, your phone's software needs to be updated periodically to make sure you have all the latest fixes and enhancements to keep it running at optimal performance. Follow the steps below to check your current version and perform any needed updates."

Threads – Lets you switch between Text, Facebook chat, and Windows Live Messenger within the same conversation.

Groups – Organizes your contacts into personalized Live Tiles for status updates on Start and to quickly send a text, email, or IM to the whole group.

Quick Cards - Get a quick summary of relevant information including related apps.

The rest of the piece details all the new enhancements and features of Mango (without actually ever calling it that) and gives instructions on how to check and install the update via the Zune desktop software.

Once again, Sprint, although quiet on the matter has once again come through and delievered a timely update (the last was the security fix). This makes the Arrive an even better phone and we're sure their customers will be excited to try out the new Mango feautres. Now if they can just get some new Generation 2 phones...

Good new for Sprint folks (remember, they're the ones with the HTC Arrive): your device is set to get that Microsoft "May" security update aka build 7392 on May 24th, which is just a few days away.

That update, if you recall, is just to fix some fraudulent third party certificates on the phone. In other words, don't expect any new functionality. However, it also looks to bump the bootloader to version 1.29.651.02 (currently it's at 1.24.230506), so who knows if that will bring anything new (we're not betting on it).

Considering we're about 2 weeks into the May update, Sprint's timing on the Arrive isn't half bad, especially considering this is their first update.

Today is the day folks, the first CDMA Windows Phone, the HTC Arrive, is now available on Sprint (actually, some people were able to get theirs a few days ago). Not only is it the first CDMA Windows Phone, but it's also the first phone in the U.S. to ship with 'NoDo' (copy paste, performance enhancements, better search)--which is actually nicer than we thought.

For those who are new, take a look at our past coverage and catch up on all you need to know:

This post is for you old school kids still using the near legendary Sprint HTC Touch Pro 2--a device hacked and ROM'd to death and which approached perfection (if it weren't for that under-powered CPU). Anyways, the new Sprint HTC Arrive (aka 7 Pro) is basically a Touch Pro 3--the devices feel very similar, are nearly identical in size and quality. Still, we figured we get some close up glamor shots for you people who are curious about jumping to the new guy in town (we vote: yes, do it).

Yes, our Sprint HTC Arrive has showed up and we're liking it so far. The device is the final production model headed to stores this weekend and it rocks the latest build of Windows Phone 7, 7389 with NoDo on board.

For those curious, no sign of the MicroSD card though it may be under a tiny metal door--more on that later. But sporting 16GB of memory should be enough for a lot of folks. The volume sliders appear to changed slightly--while not raised too prominently, they are very wide, making volume adjustments a breeze. The Arrive is comparable to the Touch Pro 2 in size, though noticeably thinner.

Overall, first impressions matter and ours is the Arrive is a winner. The screen is better than the HD7s', the keyboard is better than the LG Quantum and the design is quite stellar. Look for our review shorty by George Ponder and smaller follow up review by Daniel Rubino.

Have questions you need answered now? Fire off in comments and we'll get to them later tonight.

In the world of mobile phone technologies changing from one device to another usually brings excitement. Getting a new device with more memory, faster CPU/GPU, better cameras, newer and faster radios is so thrilling. Other times it can bring the same immense excitement mixed in with the feeling of wanting to throw up. If you fall into the latter camp, it’s probably because you are switching OS platforms and a devote technophile. That is where I am currently at … the week before a new device launch and I am planning to switch OS camps. This time around is the HTC Arrive for Sprint which is the first Windows Phone 7 device for CDMA networks; you might know the GSM variant, the HTC 7 Pro, with slide-out keyboard and all.

This isn’t my first (or last) switch from phone OS’s. I’ve gone from PalmOS to Windows Mobile (2003 all the way to 6.5) to Blackberry, to webOS, to Android and, to iOS. All of these in no particular order and on several occasions more than once. This time feels different to me than previous changes. When I wanted to switch from Palm to Windows Mobile, it was because of the lack of multitasking and Wi-Fi support. From Windows Mobile to webOS, it was the lack of pretty and notifications. From webOS to Android, it was… well it was a lot (credit goes to Palm/HP for making round two three more interesting). So, why am I making the switch now and why the sudden urge to expunge my Jolt Cola and beef jerky?

We mentioned earlier that the Sprint HTC Arrivve was going for $50 on Wirefly if you're a new customer, $150 for renewing. Looks like Amazon Wireless will be offering it for $150 and 2-day free shipping as well for upgrading customers--we like that.

For those of you who aren't Sprint customers looking to switch for the HTC Arrive, which gets released this weekend (there has to be like 10 of you), you may want to jump on this Wirefly deal: Two-year contract for new customer and get the Arrive for $50. If you're renewing, you can grab it for $150--still better than Sprint.

Wirefly has been very aggressive lately in their pricing and to put this in perspective, Sprint is going only as low as $199 after rebate plus a new contract for the slider Windows Phone device. So getting it for $50 in all instant rebates is a heck of deal. The real question though is how many will actually grab this deal with Sprint not known to be gaining that many new customers?

We'll be keeping an eye out for you on-contract folk too as $199 seems a bit high in our book for this phone.

Looks like the lucky folks at Engadget got a sneak peak at Sprint's first Windows Phone, the HTC Arrive (aka 7 Pro). They took a few snazzy shots and even did a quick video demonstrating copy and paste on the device.

Of course C&P is there because it's tied into ">the NoDo update, which also brings CDMA support to the OS. While the copy and paste demo is nice, unfortunately they did not film the device in landscape, meaning those mysterious Xbox LIVE shots in the horizontal zone cannot be confirmed/disconfirmed just yet. So close, yet so far.